Two forms of inhibition of spinothalamic tract neurons produced by stimulation of the periaqueductal gray and the cerebral cortex.

1. Recordings were made from the lumbosacral spinal cord in anesthetized macaque monkeys. The inhibitory effects of electrical stimulation of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the cerebral cortex or cerebral peduncle (CP) were tested and compared by recording 1) cord dorsum potentials evoked by stimulation of the sural nerve, 2) discharges recorded extracellularly, and 3) membrane potentials recorded intracellularly from spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons at rest (background activity) or in response to stimulation of the sural nerve. 2. Stimulation of the cortex or in the CP preferentially reduced the amplitude of the N1 and N2 waves of the cord dorsum potential evoked by stimulation of the sural nerve, without affecting the N3 wave. Stimulation of the PAG, on the other hand, reduced the amplitude of the N3 wave with little effect on the N1 and N2 waves. 3. The activity of 62 STT neurons was recorded extracellularly. Stimulation of the PAG or the cortex/CP inhibited nonpreferentially the responses of the neurons in the superficial laminae to all afferent inputs. On the other hand, stimulation of the PAG or the cortex/CP inhibited preferentially the responses of most STT neurons in deep layers of the dorsal horn to the small or large afferent input, respectively. 4. Thirty-five neurons were recorded intracellularly. The membrane potential of the neurons averaged -45.5 +/- 10.1 (SD) mV. All neurons were recorded in laminae III-VI; the neurons were of the wide-dynamic-range (WDR) type and had background activity. 5. The inhibitory effects of stimulation of the PAG were tested on all 35 neurons. In 32 of the neurons, stimulation of the PAG evoked a hyperpolarization. The background activity of the neurons was reduced (generally it completely ceased) by the hyperpolarization. In three neurons stimulation of the PAG did not evoke a hyperpolarization and the background activity of the neurons did not change. Nevertheless, the responses of these three neurons to afferent input were inhibited by stimulation in the PAG. 6. The inhibitory effects of stimulating the cortex and/or the CP were tested in 26 of the 35 neurons. Stimulation of the cortex and/or the CP evoked a hyperpolarization in all the neurons, although, in 10 of the 26 neurons, stimulation of the CP also evoked a depolarization. The hyperpolarization generally blocked the background activity of the neurons. 7. The effective stimuli in the PAG and the cortex/CP to evoke a hyperpolarization in STT neurons were short, high-frequency trains of pulses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)